An affordable option for building a cheap home library, 20th-century hardcover publishers book series included reprints of classics and publisher’s back catalog titles as well as newly commissioned titles. A few series dominated, such as Everyman’s Library and the Modern Library, but there are many others. These pages document the diversity of 20th-century reprint book series. Click on a series below for more information about the series.

University Classics (University Publishing Co.)

The University Publishing Company of Lincoln, Nebraska was in business from about 1898 to 1962, publishing educational books and materials. Their University Classics series was published from 1924-1935, with about 12-15 titles. All are canonical classics, edited and including introductions, explanatory notes, and questions for study.

An announcement in one of the early titles (1924) explains the goals and content of the series, including the first eight titles:

A common jacket design indicates the title, author, editor, and series. This title is dated 1924, one of the initial titles in the series.

The back of the jacket advertises four of the titles in the series at the time.

Bindings are sturdy cloth with black stamped text and decorations.

In 1939Appleby & Company of Greenwich, CT published about 15-20 titles in both paper and hardbound versions. Some were issued as a set in a box. This iteration of the University Classics does not seem to have been reprinted after the initial titles in 1939.

The University Classicsseries name was reused a third time for a series published by Packard and Company of Chicago, IL, between 1941 and 1947. The series was eventually co-published and eventually taken over by the publisher Hendricks House which was itself acquired by Farrar Straus. For more information see the entry for Packard’sUniversity Classics